Title: Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe
Author: Shelley Coriell
Publisher: Amulet Books
Release Date: May 1, 2012
Source: Purchased
Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository
Chloe Camden has a big heart and an even bigger collection of vintage shoes, not t mention a big personality and a primo spot with the in-crowd. But her world careens off its axis when her best friend inexplicably turns the entire school against her. Along and desperate, Chloe joins her school's struggling radio station, where she must team up with a group of misfits who don't find her too queenly.Chloe ends up hoisting a call-in show that gets the station some much-needed publicity but also trouble, both for the station and radio techie Duncan Moore, a quiet soul with a romantic heart. On and off the air, Chloe must think carefully about whether it's better to talk or to listen.
Shelley Coriell's Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe has been on my radar for quite some time, but I didn't really know what to expect when I started reading it. As it turns out, Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe ended up being a book I highly enjoyed and surprised me in the best way possible.
Before the winter break, Chloe was at the top of her high school social pyramid. On the first day back, Chloe finds herself beings shunned by pretty much everyone in school ,including her two best friends, and Chloe has no idea why this is happening. And to make things even better, Chloe is forced by her guidance counselor to join the student radio for her independent study project. But Chloe quickly realizes that maybe working at the radio won't be as bad as she originally thought, especially if Duncan Moore is around. Except there might be more going on with everyone at the radio than Chloe originally thought.
When I began reading Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe I didn't really know what to expect. The book had been on my radar for quite some time, but I hadn't read any reviews. What I discovered as I started reading is that there was a lot more to the story Shelley Coriell wrote than I originally thought there would be. While I was expecting a light contemporary, I was not disappointed with what I got instead. Shelley Coriell wove a number of more serious elements into the story in a way that made it so I didn't necessarily realize there was so much going on. This was something I really liked about the book because it didn't make it feel like I was reading a really heavy story. As a whole, the mix of story lines really made for a highly enjoyable read.
While I'm not usually a big fan of the Queen Bee type of characters, I really loved Chloe. It might have been because when the story begins she is no longer in that position and the situation she finds herself in just makes you feel for her. Despite what it looks like from the outside, Chloe doesn't exactly have it easy. So I was really happy for her when she found the people at the radio station, especially Duncan Moore. Like Chloe, Duncan definitely doesn't have it easy and he and Chloe were good for each other. But the main thing about Duncan was that he was genuinely a great guy, despite everything he has gone through. The main thing about a lot of the characters in this book was that they all had their quirks that made them more real and more loveable.
Shelley Coriell's Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe was a surprising read and I loved every single page of it. It's a book I will for sure be recommending because it deserves to be read and enjoyed as much as I enjoyed it.
